For most of Villanova’s Big East Tournament quarterfinal against Marquette yesterday, Corey Stokes was the best player on the Garden floor and carried his Wildcats teammates. They returned the favor after his huge last-minute turnover, carrying him to a thrilling 76-75 win.

The sophomore guard from Bayonne, N.J., had a game-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting to help Villanova build a nine-point second-half lead. He watched the Wildcats fall behind, 75-74, and then traveled on a baseline drive with 40 seconds left, but Dwayne Anderson hit the game-winner at the buzzer to allow ‘Nova to advance.

“Corey carried us,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright. “Stokes was incredible. I was going to make sure whatever happened at the end of that game that we let him know how proud we were of him.

“I told him we’ll go down with him making that drive. If that would’ve cost us and been a travel, I’ll take that from Corey every time. That was a gutsy play, the right time to drive, and I was proud of him. I was going to do everything I could to let him know he won us the game, he didn’t cost us the game.”

Stokes, the Wildcats’ third-leading scorer and top 3-point threat despite coming off the bench, had been in a 10-for-32 slump his last five games. But after a quiet first half, the former McDonalds All-American from St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark, had 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the second half.

“I’m a shooter, so I’m going to shoot. My teammates and coaches told me to go out and play with confidence, and that’s what I did,” said Stokes, who helped hold Marquette guards Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews to 5-of-27 shooting.

“(Wright) told me to come out and be more aggressive on both ends of the floor, offense and defense,” Stokes added. “My main focus was to shut down McNeal and Matthews, and we did a great job.”